Woman was dragged off the street at random to be raped

TWO men have been jailed for kidnapping and raping a woman while she was on a night out in Doncaster town centre.

Zohiab Mahmood, 21, of Malvern Avenue, Intake, and Sunny Singh, 22, of Carr House Road, Hyde Park, were both sentenced to 11 years in prison after a jury found them guilty of rape and kidnap.

The pair bundled their 23-year-old victim into the back of their car before subjecting her to a two hour ordeal.

A member of the public tried to intervene when the woman was kidnapped but he was punched in the face.

Speaking after the hearing Det Con Julie Ward said: "They dragged her into the car, there was some amount of violence used. Once they had got her in the car they drove her to two separate locations in and around Doncaster.

"It was a really nasty ordeal for her, it was horrific really. This is probably one of the worst we have seen."

The Doncaster woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was waiting for a friend to buy some food on November 29, when she was kidnapped.

As she waited outside a bridal shop at the junction of East Laith Gate and Thorne Road shortly after midnight, the men grabbed her and dragged her into a Volkswagen Golf.

She was taken to The Grove near Doncaster Royal Infirmary and a layby off West Moor Link Road, in Armthorpe, where she was raped.

Police officers then found Mahmood and Singh with their victim in the car in Park Road, off East Laith Gate, DC Ward said.

Mahmood and Singh did not know her and had chosen to kidnap her at random, she added.

Both men were found guilty of kidnap, while Singh was found guilty of two counts of rape and Mahmood was found guilty of one count of rape.

They were also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for life by

judge Recorder Lodge QC at Sheffield Crown Court.

Speaking about the victim, DC Ward, who led the investigation, said: "She is relieved at the result but her life has been ruined. She is finding it very difficult to continue with the life she had before.

It has been very traumatic for her.

"They did not plead guilty. They put the complainant through the ordeal in court, which obviously makes it quite distressing for her. And everyone else in the case had to relive what they saw.

"It's always safer to remain in twos on nights out. Having said that, she had only been left two minutes and it's a very well lit area.

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